Spain's entry into the Final Four, the departure of the Czech Republic and two goals of Armenia in 87 seconds: what ended the 6th round of the League of Nations

Character of Spain

In the central match of the day, Portugal and Spain fought for the last ticket to the Final Four of the League of Nations.

Before the final round, the wards of Fernando Santos were ahead of their competitors by two points, and to reach the decisive round it was enough for them to draw.

And until a certain moment it seemed that this is how everything would end.

By the end of the second half, the guests did not create a single dangerous episode at the gates of Diogo Costa, but they themselves could have conceded twice.

Ruben Neves unpleasantly “shot” from a distance, punched Diogo Jota under the crossbar, and then struck Cristiano Ronaldo from a lethal position.

But in all three cases, Unai Simon showed himself beyond all praise.

Luis Enrique tried to change the course of the confrontation with the help of substitutions.

After a break, the Barcelona trio was thrown into the fight - Sergio Busquets, Gavi and Pedri, as well as the talented Jeremy Pino, but the last, fifth permutation was the key.

At the 73rd minute, 20-year-old Nico Williams appeared on the field, who had previously spent only 27 minutes in a national team jersey.

But it was the Athletic winger who became one of the main characters of the meeting.

Two minutes before the end of regular time, the striker responded to an amazing diagonal throw by Dani Carvajal and performed a discount in the center of the goalkeeper's area.

Alvaro Morata arrived in time for the ball and finished it off on an empty target.

The same Ronaldo could save Portugal from defeat, but he hit Simon directly.

Disappointed Cristiano almost cried after this misfire, and the victor of the first draw of the League of Nations again failed to leave the group.

In contrast to Spain, which qualified for the playoffs for the second time in a row and repeated the record of Italy.

Departure of the Czech Republic

The second match within group A2 was also not without intrigue.

Indeed, in the event of a defeat, Switzerland risked being relegated from League A for the first time in its history. And such a situation could not be ruled out, if only for the reason that in June the Czech Republic had already taken over the team of Murat Yakin.

The meeting at the Fortuna Arena in Prague ended with a score of 2: 1, and Djibril Sow's own goal was decisive.

This time things didn't go well for them.

With a difference of 73 seconds, the Czechs allowed Remo Freuler to score first, and then Bril Embolo and found themselves in a difficult situation.

Indeed, in the course of the current tournament, they not only never won a strong-willed victory, but did not even pull out a draw, losing in the score.

Wards of Yaroslav Shilgava failed to succeed this time, although they were close enough to the goal.

Even before the break, Patrick Schick responded to David Zima's cross and returned one goal, and in the 59th minute he also earned a penalty.

Captain Tomas Soucek went to the point, but could not outwit Jan Sommer.

And in the end, Lokomotiv legionnaire Jan Kukhta was unlucky.

The striker, who was on loan for Sparta, struck with his head, but hit the post.

Misfire Ukraine

Ukraine could well have taken the place of the Czech Republic in the top division of the League of Nations, but failed the final stage of the group stage.

In the last four matches, the team of Alexander Petrakov won only one victory and let Scotland go ahead, with which they fought in the final round.

The hosts significantly outperformed their opponents both in terms of the number of shots (12:8) and expected goals (1.78 - 0.54), but failed to surprise Craig Gordon.

Incredibly, Andriy Yarmolenko missed the empty goal, Artyom Dovbik did not use a magnificent moment, and the goalkeeper himself parried Mikhail Mudrik's spectacular shot from outside the penalty area.

In the end, Taras Stepanenko could bring Ukraine the coveted three points, but his attempt was not successful either.

The Scots defended a draw and took first place in Quartet A. They will play the next tournament in competition with the strongest teams on the continent.

Duel Holland and Mitrovic

In the meeting between Norway and Serbia, a ticket to the top division was also at stake, but the intrigues did not end there.

After all, the confrontation between the two best scorers of the group stage was expected.

Norway's Erling Haaland led the race with six goals, but Aleksandar Mitrovic was breathing down his back with one.

Khvichi Kvaratskhelia had the same number, but the Georgians could no longer replenish their track record.

Holland could have strengthened himself in first place already at the 20th second, but Vanja Milinkovic-Savic miraculously parried his "shot" on the move.

And he didn't have that chance again.

Yes, in one of the episodes, the Manchester City forward managed to hit his head after a cross from the flank, but the ball went straight to the center.

It remained to count on the support of partners, but all of them in total dealt only one blow more than Erling (five), and it was impossible to call them dangerous.

The Serbs, on the other hand, were far less wasteful.

At the end of the first half, a bunch of Juventus partners worked - Filip Kostic performed a cross into the penalty area, and Dusan Vlahovic put his foot up.

And at the beginning of the second, the same Mitrovic lit his name on the scoreboard.

The Fulham striker rolled into the near corner and caught up with Haaland.

Armenia's two goals in 87 seconds, masterpieces by Sheshko and Forsberg

Within the same group, another match took place, as a result of which Sweden for the first time in its history was relegated to League C. To avoid a fiasco, the Scandinavians needed to take over the Slovenes in their field, but they failed to complete the task.

The meeting ended with a rather boring score of 1:1, but the goals turned out to be a feast for the eyes.

First, Benjamin Seshko sank the ball into the net with a magnificent volley, and then Emil Forsberg struck irresistibly after a solo pass.

Two defenders literally hung on the Leipzig midfielder, and then the third one arrived in time, but this did not stop him.

The ex-midfielder of Krasnodar Viktor Klasson could tip the scales in favor of tre krunur, but lost to Jan Oblak in a head-to-head duel.

Everything turned out unsuccessfully for the Armenian team, which failed to stay in the second division for a long time.

By the 70th minute of the away match with Ireland, they were trailing by two goals and had never shot on goal.

But in the next 87 seconds they scored twice.

Artak Dashyan and Krasnodar midfielder Eduard Spertsyan excelled, effectively spinning the ball into the far corner.

It is all the more offensive that the guests were not destined to keep a draw.

Moreover, the same Dashyan became an anti-hero.

During a corner play, the ball hit his hand, which provoked not only a VAR review, but also two removals at once.

The culprit of the episode received a second yellow card, and Hovhannes Hambartsumyan, who expressed disagreement with the decision of the referee, received a direct red card.

Robert Brady was ruthless and brought victory to Ireland.